Brown Bears vs Kentucky Wildcats Prediction, 12/31/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Brown Bears vs Kentucky Wildcats

Date: Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Location: Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY

TV: ESPN+

The Brown Bears (7-4) are headed to Rupp Arena on Tuesday where they will go up against the Kentucky Wildcats (10-2).

The Brown Bears played Kansas and went home with a loss by a final score of 87-53 in their last contest. Brown wrapped up the contest with a 26.7% field goal percentage (20 out of 75) and converted 8 of their 33 3-pointers. From the charity stripe, the Bears buried 5 of their 8 shots for a percentage of 62.5%. With respect to grabbing rebounds, they compiled 36 with 14 of them being on the offensive end. They also recorded 8 dimes for the contest in addition to forcing the other team into 6 turnovers and having 4 steals. In the matter of the defense, Brown allowed the other team to go 50.0% from the field on 34 out of 68 shooting. Kansas earned 17 assists and had 7 steals for the game. Moreover, Kansas pulled down 46 boards (9 offensive, 37 defensive), but didn't record a block for the team. Kansas finished the game shooting 73.3% from the free throw line by converting 11 of their 15 attempts. They also knocked down 8 of their 22 attempts from three-point range. In reference to personal fouls, the Bears ended up with 12 and Kansas finished the game with 5 personal fouls.

Aaron Cooley is one player who was a major contributor for this contest. He walked away from this one shooting 25.0% from the field and earned 3 dimes. He was on the hardwood for 31 minutes and snagged 9 rebounds. He left the arena with 6 points on 3 out of 12 shooting.

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Brown comes into this game with a mark of 7-4 so far this year. They average 72.8 points per game (253rd in the country) while shooting 44.4% from the floor. The Bears are shooting 34.3% on shots from distance (96 of 280) and 64.7% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Brown is pulling in 36.5 rebounds per game and is sitting with 159 assists for the year, which is 284th in Division 1 in terms of passing the ball. They turn it over 11.5 times per game and as a team are committing 15.1 personal fouls per contest.

On defense, the Bears are able to force 11.7 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 14.5 fouls. They rank 12th in college in giving up assists to their opponents with 116 conceded for the year. The Bears defense is giving up a FG percentage of 42.1% (284 of 675) and they surrender 36.7 rebounds per game as a team. They are surrendering 31.8% from 3-point land while they are 145th in D-1 in points per game allowed (69.7).

When they last stepped on the court, the Kentucky Wildcats walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 85-65 against Ohio State. With respect to rebounding, Kentucky allowed Ohio State to grab 29 overall (6 on the offensive side). They finished shooting 28.6% from beyond the perimeter by going 4 of 14 and ended up shooting 21 out of 27 at the free throw line (77.8%). The Wildcats allowed Ohio State to bury 30 of their 53 tries from the field which had them shooting 56.6% in the game. When the final whistle was blown, the Wildcats finished 17 out of 57 from the floor which had them shooting 29.8%. In terms of 3-pointers, Kentucky converted 4 out of 22 attempts (18.2%). They were able to make 27 of the free throws for a rate of 84.4%. Ohio State earned 22 personal fouls for this contest which took the Wildcats to the charity stripe for 32 shots. They gave up possession 9 times, while earning 6 steals in the game. The Wildcats corralled 17 defensive boards and 11 offensive boards totaling 28 in this game.

Otega Oweh was important for the Wildcats for the contest. He totaled 21 points in his 30 minutes of playing time, but didn't record an assist. He knocked down 4 out of 13 in the game giving him a field goal percentage of 30.8%, and earned 2 rebounds.

Kentucky has a win-loss mark of 10-2 so far this year. The Wildcats are committing 16.3 fouls per contest and they hit 73.8% from the free throw line. They are assisting teammates 18.8 times per game (10th in the nation) and they turn it over 9.8 times per game. Kentucky has totaled 1,069 pts for the season (89.1 per contest) and they collect 43.4 rebounds per contest. As an offensive team, the Wildcats are shooting 48.0% from the floor, which is 65th in college hoops.

The Kentucky defense concedes 27.6% on 3-pointers (88 of 319) and opponents are connecting on 70.1% of their free throw shots. They relinquish 11.9 dimes and 36.2 total boards per game, which ranks them 100th and 273rd in the nation. The Wildcats defensively are ranked 225th in the nation in points given up per game with 72.8. They are able to force 10.1 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 40.5% from the field (68th in college hoops).

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Brown

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